A botnet generally refers to a collection of software (e.g., software agents or robots) that run autonomously and automatically. Examples of botnets include IRC bots and malicious software, and can also include a network of computers using distributed computing software.
Various forms of malicious software detection exist. For example, antivirus software is often used to detect malicious software, which typically uses signature detection techniques in which signature updates are generally provided periodically to the antivirus software for newly generated signatures for newly identified malicious software.